The Swordsman and the Inventor Girl
by Jennifer Darknight
Summary: Precis/Dias. What if Precis and Dias actually got together at the end of the game? This is my take on how it would turn out...please review! This will turn into a long story, but only with your support! ^^
1. Prologue

The Swordsman and the Inventor Girl  
  
By Jennifer Darknight  
  
  
  
  
  
Prologue:  
  
The Question  
  
  
  
  
  
"Oooooh! I wonder what he wants to speak to me about?!"  
  
Precis F. Neumann smiled at herself, adjusting her hair in front of the mirror that sat on her dresser. Not that there was much to adjust anyway-her hair was short now-it only went down to her mid-neck, curling in at the sides, but still; it was an inborn habit, a habit that didn't go away, even after a year of not having to do it. But it was only when HE called on her that she acted like this. Whenever Claude asked her before, when she had a slight crush on him, even then she didn't act like this-so giddy and paranoid at the same time; paranoid that she would be ugly, paranoid that he wouldn't like the way she looked.  
  
But it's not as if he cared. Dias Flac cared for her, no matter how she looked. But how long had it been since they had gotten together.? A year? A year and two months? She didn't remember. She was going to turn 18 in about six months, and she had gotten together with the cold-tempered warrior when she was still sixteen.so it wasn't that long of a time. But still-it didn't feel like it was that short. It felt like it was only a few months ago that it had happened. But oh-she didn't have time to reminisce now. She had to go out-Dias was waiting for her outside.  
  
"Precis?" She heard Dias call impatiently from outside her room. "Are you done yet? It's not as if you have to look perfect; I only want to talk to you."  
  
((Well, you're no fun!)) Precis snorted, turning away from the mirror. She then took one final look at herself; she was wearing her normal worksuit, the orange one that she had worn when she was on the adventure with the others on Expel and Nede, but she looked different somehow-she couldn't explain it. Not that she had much time now that Dias was getting even more impatient with her and knocking on her door lightly.  
  
"Yes, yes! I'm coming; hold on!" Precis called, running to the door and opening it; revealing a very clean-cut and stylish Dias, wearing a white tank-top and loose black pants, his long hair tied into a low ponytail that went down his back. ((God, he looks sexy,)) Precis thought, feeling her heart race. She shook it off though, giving him one of her most cheerful smiles. "Hi, Dias! Sorry I took you!"  
  
"It's no problem;" Dias shrugged, using his typical icy look. "I'm in no hurry."  
  
"Oh are you? So-why don't we talk outside? It seems like a nice night."  
  
"Whatever."  
  
  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
  
  
  
  
And it was a nice night. The stars were out, the deep sky above Linga filled with millions of bright white lights. There wasn't a chill, either, making the weather perfect for just sitting down and stargazing. Precis smiled, sitting down on the ground a couple of feet away from her porch, looking up. Dias soon joined her.  
  
"So," Precis began, not looking at Dias, "What did you want to talk to me about?"  
  
The older man cleared his throat. Precis watched him from the corner of her eye. Did she see some RED on the corners of his cheeks? ((Oh my gosh! That's just like the time I grabbed his ass when he wasn't expecting it! Only this time it's even redder than that! Although at that time it wasn't even really red, but.)) She smiled slightly, leaning her head against his strong shoulder.  
  
"Come on-don't be so shy."  
  
"I'm not shy," Dias protested. "I just want you to look at me when we talk-it's pretty hard to talk to you when you're spending so much time looking at the stars, don't you think?"  
  
"Yeah," Precis scratched her head, grinning sheepishly at him. "I guess you're right. Sorry."  
  
Dias cracked a smile. "You still haven't changed, Precis. Even after all these years.Although your hair did, but that was my fault entirely."  
  
"The hair thing wasn't your fault!" Precis protested, crossing her arms. "Besides, I like my hair short-it doesn't get in my way as much when I get my projects done."  
  
"I see."  
  
Precis looked to Dias again, watching him curiously. "Dias? Are you going to tell me what you wanted to see me about? Or do I have to make you answer me?"  
  
"Precis."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
Dias grinned, looking at her. "Close your eyes."  
  
"Why?" Precis blinked, confused.  
  
"Just close your eyes and hold out your hands."  
  
"Okay."  
  
Precis did as she was told. She then opened her eyes, the most beautiful thing she had ever seen sat in her hands. It was a flower-or at least, she thought it was a flower-but it was made of crystal-the purple petals glittering prismatically in the moonlight that shone on them. It reminded her of a lotus, sort of, but not as ominous looking. It was gorgeous-and it emitted a peaceful aura. (A/N: If you still don't have a good idea of what it looks like, think of Sailor Moon's Crystal Flower in Sailor Moon R: The Movie and you'll know what I mean) Precis gasped, looking up at Dias.  
  
"What the heck is this? How did you get enough money to buy this? Oh my gosh, and what did you have to go through to get it?" It all came out really fast in that typical Precis-like way, but Dias understood what she meant. He closed his eyes, chuckling sort of.  
  
"I got it for you." He said simply.  
  
"Well, no DUH; but how did you get it? Why did you get it for me?"  
  
"Did you know that crystal flowers like these were used in early tribes to propose marriage?"  
  
Precis didn't get what he meant at first. "Well, that's all well and good bu-" But then it hit her. HARD. She gasped again, staring at him with wide eyes. "D-do you really want to m-m-marry me? Are you sure? I mean, you might regret it later."  
  
"No." Dias shook his head, grinning. "If I would have thought that, then I wouldn't have given this to you."  
  
Precis blushed, looking down towards her feet. What could she say? She wanted to say 'yes', but.how to do it without making her sound like a complete moron in the process?  
  
But then she just simply acted. She kissed Dias gently on the lips, holding it for a few minutes, letting go after Dias wished to get some breath back. She smiled, tossing back some extra strands of hair.  
  
"So," She said, "Does that answer your question?"  
  
And there she was, engaged to a cold-hearted swordsman, who had warmed up to her and had given her his heart. But.it hadn't always been like this. When had this whole story between them started? It started in Cross, a month after the battle with the Ten Wise Men.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
A/N: Well, that's over with! What do you think? Yeah, it's pretty short but it's just a beginning right? Anyway, send me a review please? I WANNA REVIEW!! PLEASE PLEASE PRETTY PLEASE WITH A CHERRY ON TOP?!?!?! ;_; I can't write more without your input. Thank you for reading by the way! ^_^ I hope you guys like it! ^^ 


	2. Meeting in Cross

The Swordsman and the Inventor Girl  
  
Chapter one:  
  
In the Alleys of Cross.  
  
  
  
  
  
"Oh wow! This is so cute!"  
  
Precis had remembered. She had been shopping in Cross that day; she had heard from Rena that Cross was one of the best places (besides Lacour of course, but Lacour was so boring nowadays, as she had seen everything a hundred times over) to shop during the summer. She had been going with a few girls from the Academy, but most of them had decided to run off, and she was left with Mimi, a cute redhead who was in Precis's Mechanical Science class; and Lulu, a highly intelligent girl from Lacour who studied Heraldic Science. The three were looking at clothes at one of the outdoor vendors; he was a stout, Asian-looking man with a huge stubby mustache selling silken Chinese-style dresses. Mimi was holding up an adorable pink dress which barely went to her knees, the buttons gold and the back of it embroidered with cutesy bunnies that seemed to run across it. Mimi spun around, her face asking for her friends' approval.  
  
"I don't know," Lulu said, "It doesn't seem to suit you too well."  
  
"That's 'cause all you wear is black!" Mimi retorted, glaring at the other girl. Those two rarely agreed on anything, but they were still pretty good friends, despite it all.  
  
"I'll have you know," Lulu declared, "Black is a very flattering color; it doesn't make you look fat, either. Pink, on the other hand."  
  
"It does not make me look fat!" Mimi yelled, turning her head the other way. "Precis-chan! Precis-chan!" She yelled, grabbing Precis by the arm. "Does this look cute? Does it?'  
  
Precis looked at it a moment.then looked at the evil look coming from Lulu. She nodded her head, grinning at Mimi.  
  
"I think it looks absolutely adorable! Oh my gosh, where did you find that? I want one of those too!"  
  
"No way!" Yelled Mimi. "Pink doesn't suit you, Precis-chan. Here," she pulled another dress of the rack; it was long and deep purple, with gold buttons and blue, red, and gold Chinese-style dragons embroidered on the back. "THIS would look perfect on you. Here, try it on."  
  
"Well.is it my size?" Precis checked the tag, seeing if it was a small, her usual size. She sighed in relief when she found that it was. "Yep.it is. I don't think I need to try this on. I guess I'll just buy this, then!"  
  
"But don't you need shoes and accessories?" Asked Mimi, grinning.  
  
"Yeah, but where are we gonna find those? There aren't that many clothes shops in Cross."  
  
"Oh come ON!" Mimi put her hands on her hips, dragging Precis to the counter. "Well, I guess you have to pay for this one first."  
  
"You guess?" Lulu sighed, slapping her forehead. "How airheaded can a girl get?"  
  
"Shut your piehole!" Screamed Mimi.  
  
Precis laughed, paying 1200 FOL for the dress and putting it in a bag, waiting for Lulu and Mimi to buy theirs. She smiled to herself, looking up at the sky and letting the wind tousle her hair. How long had it been since she had seen them.? If she was with the others, things would have been a little different. Let's see.at this point, Rena would be trying to set things back to normal ("Stop it girls! There's no need to fight!"); while Ashton would be trying to calm down Gyoro and Ururun, who would already have chosen sides and tried to fight for the girl they liked best; Claude would just laugh on the sidelines, saying something about "even in other worlds, girls never change,"; Celine would be too busy doing something else to even notice; Leon would be groaning about how immature the girls were; and Dias would just groan, standing in the corner and shaking his head. Dias had always been like that though. So stoic and emotionless.sometimes Precis would just spend hours at a time simply trying to figure out what he was thinking. But none of them worked; even with her sixth sense, nothing could be penetrated in that thick head of his. It was expected though. All that time of brooding over his terrible past gave him a major mental block. It kind of scared her sometimes.  
  
But then again, he was always scary for some strange reason. Either it was that cold gaze he always gave me, or the fact that he never smiled at all.Y'know, it would've been nice if he had smiled at me, at least once; the guy needs a little happiness in his life. Well, if I know Dias, he's probably still brooding over his lost family (not that I blame him; that would honestly suck if my ENTIRE family got killed in one sitting) and training as usual; he was also probably turning down fun like it was the Ebola virus, or something. I swear, if I had anything to do with it, he would never leave my house until he agreed that he'd have at least a little bit of (good) excitement in his life. I mean, REALLY.  
  
"Precis-chan! Precis-chan!"  
  
Precis snapped back into reality, when Mimi tapped on her shoulder.  
  
"Yeah, Mimi?" Precis asked, blinking curiously.  
  
"Um.We're gonna go to the inn to meet the others. You go look around some more, okay? We'll catch you later!"  
  
Precis, although feeling somewhat abandoned, nodded, smiling cheerfully. "Sure!" She said, beaming, "I'll make sure to tell you ALL about those hot guys that pick me up while you were gone! But." Then she handed Mimi her dress carefully. "Hold onto this so that I don't lose it or someone steals it, okay? I'll pay you back for it."  
  
"Sure, see you!"  
  
And with that she ran off, leaving the two behind and going towards an alley. This place was one of her favorite places in the town; probably because this was the place that she used to have all those Girl Talks with Rena when nobody else was looking. They used to talk about everything: Boys, clothes, the newest music.you name it, they talked about it. Call it a sort of homesickness for the old days, but Precis just wanted to go back there, just to reminisce for some short five or six minutes before going on around the town, spending her large amount of FOL on cute girly stuff.  
  
But, her plans changed when she saw something laying on the ground in the alley. It was a man, tall and handsome (she thought he would be handsome, but one couldn't really tell with all the blood that was around him), his long blue hair waving around his face as he lay there, barely conscious. In his hands still held his sword, glinting in the sunlight that shone through the cracks of the city walls. She heard a very deep yet familiar grunt; the grunt that showed someone on the brink of death.  
  
Without thinking, Precis ran to him. "Hey!" She yelled, kneeling by his side. "Are you okay?! What happened?!"  
  
She could see one of the man's red eyes turn to her, his bloody face a mixture of extreme pain and surprise. He choked out in a pained, almost desperate voice, "Precis.? What are you doing here?"  
  
She recognized that voice! That voice could only belong to the anti-fun himself! "Dias?? What in the world happened to you?! I thought you were training in Lacour! No, forget that; how in the world did you end up like this?!"  
  
He didn't answer her. Instead he responded with a contemptuous grunt; a grunt that Precis knew better than anyone, he had given it to her so many times during the adventure.  
  
"Well," Precis growled, hands on her hips, "You're not gonna do that 'you're not good enough to receive and answer from me' routine; you're almost dead, damn it! Beggers can't be choosers, and your spirit would probably haunt me and my children for the rest of my family's history, so I'm gonna help you out, whether you like it or not!"  
  
And as she said this, Precis gently took Dias by the arm. He winced with pain, but did not fight her, as he probably too weak to move anyway. She held him close to her, nearly carrying him towards the inn, where she knew that her friends would be waiting. He needed some help, and fast. And she was the one who was going to help him.  
  
"Hold on, Dias; don't die on me."  
  
  
  
  
  
***  
  
"Who is this, Precis?" Lulu asked, looking at the man lying on the bed.  
  
"He's really handsome!" Squealed Mimi. "Look at that hot face and those awesome muscles!"  
  
"Mimi," Lulu said quietly, "I don't think this is the time to be ogling over him, don't you think?"  
  
"I'm sorry." Mimi scratched her head. "But, do you know him, Precis-chan?"  
  
Precis nodded, looking at Mimi with a depressed expression. "Yeah; I met him a while back, before I went to the Academy. His name is Dias, but you probably already know THAT, Lulu; he's pretty famous around the Lacour area,"  
  
"I thought I recognized him from somewhere! He's the winner of the Lacour Tournament of Arms: Dias Flac. But, Precis; how do you know him?"  
  
Like she could tell them about the battle against the Ten Wise Men and their investigation of the Sorcery Globe? She just had to make something up so that they wouldn't call her crazy, like the majority of the people at school already did.  
  
"I went to this year's tournament, of course! Hee hee. I then had the pleasure of meeting him personally! Of course, there ARE special perks of traveling with a competitor in the tournament."  
  
"Oh?" Lulu raised an eyebrow. "Which competitor are we talking about here?"  
  
  
  
"Claude Kenni. You know; the HOTTEST guy at the tournament?"  
  
Mimi stared at Precis with wide eyes, turning away jealously. "You TRAVELED with CLAUDE?!?! No FAIR! I was his number one fan! I would have sold my soul to travel with him, much less know him PERSONALLY!!!"  
  
Precis shook her head. "Well, I could introduce him to you sometime."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Of course!"  
  
"But, Precis," Lulu looked at Dias concernedly. "What about Dias? Do you know what happened?"  
  
Precis shook her head. "Not really. I just saw him lying there all bloody and stuff, so I, like, brought him over here."  
  
"Well, let's let him rest for a while." Lulu took Mimi by the arm, beckoning her to leave the room. "Precis, are you coming too?"  
  
Precis shook her head. "No. I'll wait 'til he wakes up. SOMEONE has to watch over him, right?"  
  
And then, as the two girls left the room, Precis heard Dias groan, shuffling a little in his sleep. He opened one of his eyes, watching her.  
  
"U-ugh."  
  
"Dias? Are you okay?"  
  
"Wh-where.am.I?"  
  
"You're in the inn. Just don't even SAY anything. Just be quiet, sleep, get better, and nobody gets hurt."  
  
"Yes.someone will get hurt, if I stay here."  
  
Precis crossed her arms, glaring at Dias. "What are you talking about? You're not gonna get away with that one! You think you're gonna get away with that, you're wrong! You're NOT gonna get away with doing the whole 'you're gonna get hurt if you follow me' routine! Not this time! Now tell me what's going on, or go to sleep. Take your pick. You're not gonna get any sympathy from me if you run off and get killed, and I'd rather not feel responsible for your death so just LISTEN TO ME!"  
  
Dias snorted, rolling on his side, not facing her. ".Fine. I'll tell you. But the second you interrupt me, or get annoying, I'm out of here, with or without your permission."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
***  
  
End of chapter one! How did you like it, everyone? I know, I'm going a bit ahead of myself here, but just understand that this is the beginning and it will get better later. Please Review! ^^  
  
  
  
  
  
Jennifer Darknight 


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